"Fubuki," Michito said, knocking on her door. "There is a visitor here to see you." Fubuki snapped off the power button on her stereo system, sighing in annoyance.
"Who is it?" Fubuki asked impatiently.
"Well..." Michito said a little hesitantly, "it's the priest."
Fubuki sighed. "Why the hell would I want to talk to the priest?"
"He said he would make it worth your while," Michito replied. "He insisted that I speak to you."
Fubuki looked up at her ceiling. "Fine," she said, getting off of her bed. "I don't know why the hell he thinks I'll want his money, though."
Michito held her door open and Fubuki barreled down the stairs, her trench coat brushing against the wood behind her. When her nanny reached the bottom of the stairs, she opened the door into the parlor and Fubuki stepped into the small room. Inside, the priest was sipping a cup of green tea.
"Miranda," he said, bowing his head in deference.
"Oh, please," Fubuki said, rolling her eyes and sitting down across from him. "My name is Fubuki, for Serenity's sake."
"Very well," he replied, a polite smile on his face. "Fubuki it is."
"What do you want, Daisuke?" Fubuki asked.
"Sir Gakusha," Michito said, reminding Fubuki to use the proper form of address for a religious official. Fubuki just shrugged.
"It's quite all right, Michito," He said. "I think she is in a position to refer to me by my first name. Fubuki," he continued, "I have spoken to the head priest. I am asking him to revoke the status of the Moon Senshi as demons and make them into gods that are worshiped alongside the canonical Planetary Senshi."
"Are you asking me to care?" Fubuki asked.
"No," Daisuke replied. "Well...not exactly. I thought perhaps you would be interested to know that you may be worshiped rightfully alongside the Sailor Senshi."
"What makes you think I want to--fuck that, should--be worshiped?"
"You saved the people of the Church of Serenity," Daisuke replied.
Fubuki shrugged. "It was only because the youma attacked me," Fubuki replied. "Don't be too grateful."
"Even so," he replied. "Besides, it is not for me to question your actions, Fubuki. You have been given the power of divinity, and that comes with it a certain amount of impunity from the judgment of ordinary men."
"So, is this the only reason you came?" Fubuki asked, picking a strawberry cake off of the plate of food set beside the green tea mugs and shoving it in her mouth.
"No," he replied. "I was wondering if I could speak to your mother."
Fubuki abruptly stopped chewing and started intensely at him. After a moment, she swallowed the cake in an indelicate gulp and wiped whipped cream off of her lips with a finger, then licked it off. Michito put an embarrassed hand over her face. "Why?" Fubuki asked darkly.
"She has not been to church recently," he replied. "Not all week. Usually she comes in almost every day. I assume she has not taken the news of your transformation well."
Fubuki scoffed. "She hasn't left her damn room since I killed the youma."
"I may be able to help her," he continued.
"Why would I want you to do that? She's nothing but a pain in my ass."
"If I talk to her, I may be able to convince her to give you new-found freedom because of your importance to the church as Sailor Miranda," he continued. "Especially if you are canonized as a divinity in the church."
"And if you only talk her out of her senses enough to hate me?" Fubuki said with a nasty grin.
"Then I can offer you a place to stay," Daisuke said. "At least, if I succeed making you and your friends divinities instead of demons. Something which I feel relatively assured of doing, given my position in the church and the recent actions of the Moon Senshi in saving people from Nemesis. As a Sailor Senshi, you will be under the protection of the church and an object of its devotion. I will be able to provide for you. Indeed, I am sure that the people would admire you as a protector of the church."
"Yippee," Fubuki said dryly. "Just what I've always wanted."
"Indeed, it is what you've always wanted," Daisuke replied, ignoring her sarcasm. "Fubuki, if you are under the protection of the church, it will give you freedom from your mother, something which I know you have been keen on having. Even if your mother comes out of this period of difficulty just the same as she has always been, or even worse, there is a place for you to stay away from her influence. You will be able to have the freedom you desire without having to see your mother suffer--something which, despite your protestations to the contrary, I do not believe you enjoy. Will you allow me to talk to her?"
Fubuki got up and poured a glass of whisky from a decanter in the parlor. She took a sip and swallowed deeply. "How is she, Michito?"
"She mutters to herself in the night sometimes," Michito replied. "And she eats the food that I bring her. Other than that, I don't know."
Fubuki finished off the whisky and sighed. Crazy bitch. Not like anything Daisuke did would make a difference anyhow. "Ask me again tomorrow," she said at last.
"Very well," Daisuke replied. "Thank you for speaking to me, Fubuki."
Fubuki rolled her eyes. "Just get out," she said. Daisuke nodded and picked up his coat. Michito escorted him through the door.
Fubuki picked up the phone and stared into it, speechless.
"Have another fight with Jirou?" Michito asked, looking up from whatever she was making in the kitchen.
"None of your business," Fubuki snapped.
"Okay then," Michito said, smiling surreptitiously.
Fubuki took a deep breath and dialed Jirou's number.
"Hello?" he said, picking up the receiver.
"Hey," Fubuki replied casually. "It's me."
"Hey," he replied a little awkwardly. Fubuki could tell that things were falling into their same old pattern; they would pretend like nothing had happened, or if they did acknowledge it, they would pretend like it was no big deal until it really wasn't. "How are things with your mom?"
"She's still in her room."
"Does that make you happy, or sad?" he asked.
"Fuck," Fubuki said, sighing, "damned if I know." she paused. "Daisuke wants to make the Moon Senshi divinities in the church."
"So?"
"So....he wants to talk to my mother about it. Try to get her to see my powers in a different light--make me seem like some wonderful god or some bullshit like that. He thinks it will make her snap out of it."
"You wouldn't have run of the place anymore if that happened."
"That was the fucked up thing, though. the Priest said that he thought my being a Moon Senshi and all canonized by the Church would make her respect me more. And if my mom went back to her same old bitchy self instead of being less of a pain in the ass, he said I could live at the church."
"What, for real? The Church of Serenity?"
"Yeah."
"Fuck," Jirou said, shocked. "Are you going to let him talk to your mom?"
"I...I'm not sure," she said at last. "I don't know what the fuck to say. The whole thing seems so weird and fucked up. What do you think?"
Jirou sighed. "Serenity," he said at last. "Maybe you should take him up on it."
"You think so?" Fubuki replied, surprised.
"If you leave her as she is," Jirou replied, "she'll probably snap out of it eventually. And when she does, I'm sure she'll think nothing good of you. If the Priest can snap her out of it so that she doesn't think you're a demon child, that's probably for the best."
"You don't know that she'll snap out of it," Fubuki replied.
"She did last time," Jirou said. "So chances are, she will this time too. There's nothing physically wrong with your mother, even though it sure as hell seems like there is. She just saw something that, for a Serenity-obsessed whore like her, was damn traumatic."
Fubuki looked down at the kitchen floor. "All right," she said. "I guess I can always live at the royal hall of sparkling shit if I have to. Besides," she added, "it's fucking creepy, the way she's holed up in there, muttering to herself."
"See you tomorrow, maybe?" Jirou asked.
"Maybe," Fubuki evasively replied, hanging up the phone.
"You're making the right decision," Michito said, looking up from her work in the kitchen. Fubuki glared at her.
"You say something like that, I'll change my mind," she caustically replied.
Yamiko fidgeted nervously in front of the mirror as she looked at the outfit she had hemmed and hawed over for the last fifteen minutes; eventually, she settled on a frilly, victorian-style blouse with a pair of dark blue jeans. She wore her mother's bracelet on one wrist, but dared not wear any other jewelry for fear of overdressing.
"How do I look?" she said, walking out into the living room and fidgeting nervously in front of Sayoko. Sayoko appraised Yamiko's outfit, a stark contrast to her own slinky tank-top and ripped hot pants.
"You look very nice," Sayoko said with a smile. "Very tasteful. I hope you're not going to cook dinner in that?"
Yamiko rolled her eyes. "What do you think I was doing in front of the stove all morning? I have dinner all assembled; I just need to stick it in the oven."
"See, I don't have to feel like having a huge, expensive western appliance in the apartment is a waste of money--because I have you, Yamiko!"
Yamiko rolled her eyes. "Thanks, Sayoko. Now do you think you could put on something a little more tasteful? I don't expect you to dress up, but for Serenity's sake, put on a shirt or something!"
Sayoko sighed, getting up off the couch and throwing her trashy celebrity magazine down on the coffee table with a satisfying smack. "Fiine," she said apathetically, walking into her bedroom.
Yamiko looked at her clock nervously and, checking the oven's preheat setting to make sure it was warm, put her lasagna in the oven. Kane had said his favorite food was Spanish rice, so she hoped that something similarly tomato-based would be okay. Yamiko sighed. Now that she had put in the food in the oven and set the clock, there was nothing left to do but fidget until Kane got here. Maybe this was a bad idea after all. Yamiko pulled absent-mindedly at a half-broken nail. She shouldn't have insisted on choosing the movie! Now if she chose badly, she might end up making herself look bad. No--it was too late to back out now.
Yamiko almost jumped out of her skin when the doorbell rang. Taking a deep breath, she walked toward the door, checked to make sure it was, in fact, Kane, and let him nervously into the entryway.
"You look nice," Kane said politely as he stepped through the door. Yamiko tried not to blush. "I like your shirt."
"Oh, well," she said, "I thought about wearing something ripped up and covered in curry, but I figured that would be overdressing." Kane laughed. He seemed somehow more friendly than when they had first met.
"Well, if it isn't the two lovebirds," Sayoko said, coming out in a significantly more tasteful fitted t-shirt and pencil skirt that cut off above her knees.
"You wish," Kane said, grinning. "You know, Sayoko, somehow I get the feeling that you have some voyeuristic tendencies."
"Who, me?" Sayoko said, feigning innocence. She turned toward Yamiko expectantly. "So, when's supper ready?"
"It won't take long," Yamiko assured them. "Just a few more minutes." She paused awkwardly.
"Thank you for letting me eat dinner here," Kane said, and he sounded sincere. "Ever since I was kicked out of the house, I've eaten alone. And frankly, when I ate with my parents, it was even worse."
Yamiko frowned, thinking of what her own relationship with her parents had been like. It had been so easy to talk like that when they were around...She looked up at Kane and thought of telling him to make up with his parents. But as she opened her mouth to speak, she realized that the words would sound preachy and awkward.
"I'm surprised you don't have any friends who invite you over," Sayoko said. "You'd think the ladies would be after you, anyway," she added with a wink.
Kane laughed. "Well, I can make an awkward first impression," he looked at Yamiko with a smile. "I'm sure Yamiko would agree."
"Er...right," she said, trying to regain her train of thought. "You were kinda creepy."
"Ouch!" Kane said with a frown. "Well, I'm sorry. I meant to compliment you."
"Don't listen to her, Kane," Sayoko said, leaning toward him and whispering loudly. "Compliments are only creepy if they're from old, unattractive people."
"Plus, there's the whole being critical of Serenity thing," he added. "That one's not really a hit with most people."
Sayoko shrugged. "You have a right to criticize the government," she said. "I'm no Seisui, but even I don't think she's some kind of shiny beacon of perfect...ness."
"Whatever that is," Yamiko replied, rolling her eyes. A quiet 'ding' rang through the kitchen. "That's the lasagna," she said, getting up and walking toward the oven.
"I'll get the plates," Kane said, walking into the kitchen. "Where do you keep them?"
"Uh, the door above the sink on the left," she replied. "And the cutlery is just below. Use forks and knives for lasagna." Kane retrieved the items and spread them out on the table as Yamiko brought the steaming dish and placed it on a trivet.
"Looks good," Sayoko said eagerly. "Almost as good as my sister, eh Kane?" Kane just rolled his eyes, and Yamiko blushed as she flashed her sister a dirty look.
"Let's eat," Yamiko said, cutting up the lasagna and serving it. Kane smiled as he took a bite.
"It's good," he said. "Thank you, Yamiko. Where did you learn to cook so well?"
Yamiko paused. "Well, when I was younger, my parents put a lot of pressure on me to do well academically, and I didn't get along with them very well because of it. My life was stressful. Sneaking into the kitchen and helping our cook make meals or desserts was an escape from that." Yamiko sighed and looked off to the faintly blushing sky beyond. "For me, cooking is sort of a calming, meditative activity," she said at last. "When your cook, your mind sort of clears, because you have to concentrate on what you're doing, but what you're doing isn't exactly intellectually intensive--even though it can be difficult. And anyway, there's a kind of satisfaction that comes from making and sharing a good meal that came from your own two hands."
"You used to have a cook?" Kane asked, surprised.
"Yeah," Yamiko replied. "We own a mansion outside of town. When we lived there with my parents, we had a whole wait-staff. But..." Yamiko sighed. "When I go there now, it's just painful. Everything echoes with loss. When my parents passed away, I couldn't bear to live there, and I moved to our downtown apartment. Besides," she added, turning back toward Kane, "the commute is quicker, so I save time."
"It must have been hard...having things be so tense between you--and then loosing them like that, before you had the chance to make things work."
Yamiko said nothing but looked away unhappily. Sayoko frowned. "I'm sorry," Kane said hastily. "I've said too much. I was trying to be sympathetic, but..."
"It's all right," Yamiko interjected sadly. "I know. Sometimes you're able to read my emotions a little too well, I think."
Kane started, as though he'd been slapped and looked to the side. "I'm sorry, I--" he sighed. "I have been too long out of the company of other people."
"Anyway," Sayoko interjected loudly, "Now that Kane has clearly established that he's sorry, let's move on. Since you have so strongly insisted on choosing the night's entertainment, Yamiko, what masterpiece of angst-filled cinema will we be watching?"
"Well," Yamiko said awkwardly, "I hadn't really thought about it, actually. I thought maybe Kane could help me decide, since he's the guest and all."
Kane shrugged. "Whatever you like," he said. "I know--maybe we could all make cookies together. Just like they do in American movies," he suggested enthusiastically.
"I think they just have sex in American movies," Sayoko interjected. "Not that that's a bad thing."
"Not those movies," Kane snapped. "How about it, Yamiko? The cookies, I mean."
"Well..." Yamiko said doubtfully. "It might be fun, but we'd have to pick up an awful mess afterward. Plus Sayoko would probably just harass us the whole time and not help."
"I promise to help!" Sayoko said enthusiastically. "It sounds like fun. Anyway, with Master Chef Yamiko looking over my shoulder, maybe I can actually cook something without it burning or tasting weird."
"We don't have to do it if you don't want to, Yamiko," Kane said hastily. "It was just an idea. It just seemed nice, the way you talked about cooking."
"Oh, very well," Yamiko said. "But don't stick me with clean-up."
Kane bowed with a flourish. "I would never dream of letting a delicate lady such as yourself dirty her hands."
Yamiko smiled wryly. "Then I guess I'll be watching you two make cookies," she said.
"Uh," Kane said hastily, "I guess you'll have to get your hands a little dirty. I don't trust myself to do this alone."
"All right, then. What kind of cookies do we want to make?"
"All right, kiddos," Sayoko said, slamming her empty glass of beer down on the counter, "It's off to bed for me. I have all kinds of important things to do tomorrow."
"Sayoko," Yamiko said in exasperation, "you don't even have a job. What important things could you possibly have to do?"
Sayoko paused thoughtfully. "Cleaning?" she offered at last.
Yamiko rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right. Like you're really known for cleaning."
Sayoko shrugged. "Night, Yami," she said, waving as she went into her bedroom.
"Your sister says she's planning on cleaning," Kane said wryly, "but she left us to clean up all of this mess," he said, motioning to the dirty bowls and cookie pans lying around the kitchen.
"Ugh, you're right," Yamiko said in exasperation, looking around as she put a hand on her forehead. "I'm so wiped..."
"I'll do it," Kane offered. "Well, I was going to do it in either case, but I wanted to make sure I got the brownie points."
Yamiko rolled her eyes. "No, I'll help you."
"No, really--" he said, putting a hand on her shoulder as she started toward the cookie pans. "I'd like to do it."
Yamiko paused. "No, it would be rude--"
"Please?" he said, looking at her plaintively.
Yamiko hesitated. "Oh, all right," she relented. "I'll sit in the dining room and keep you company."
"Don't be silly. If you're really wiped, you should get ready for bed. Take a shower and what-not."
"I can't leave you in here while I go off and ignore you. That really would be rude," Yamiko said.
"It would make me happier if you got to bed sooner, instead of staying up late and being tired to satisfy some kind of obligation to etiquette," he said earnestly.
Yamiko sighed. "Fine. I'll go brush my teeth," she said hopelessly, turning toward the bathroom.
"Okay," Kane said, smiling softly. He glanced out the window into the deep, dark night and then turned back to Yamiko. "Um, Yamiko..."
"Yeah?" she said, untying the messy ponytail she put in her hair to keep it out of the cookie batter.
"Do you think I could crash at your place? I would sleep out here, of course," he added hastily. "Or I could sleep in your sister's room, if you'd feel safer that way."
Yamiko frowned and looked a little uncomfortable. "I think Sayoko would be entirely too thrilled with that prospect," she said.
Kane felt torn. On one hand, the prospect of returning to a dark, empty room full of dark, empty memories hardly appealed to him. But he had found in the past with Yamiko that trying to get too friendly too soon seldom yielded positive results. "So...do you think I could crash on the couch?" he asked hopefully, almost timidly.
Yamiko sighed, glanced out at the darkening night. She raised an eyebrow at him. "What, are you afraid some group of thugs might get the wrong idea and try to hit on you on your way home?"
Kane fluttered his light brown eyelashes demurely. "Leave me alone! My heart belongs to another!" he said dramatically, pressing the back of his hand to his forehead.
Yamiko rolled her eyes. "Does it, now?"
Kane smiled gently. "Yes...it does."
Yamiko glanced away, uncomfortable. "There's a guest room over there, next to my sister's room," Yamiko said, indicating the room at the front of the hall. "The bathroom is right there, if you'd like to use it," she said, indicating another door that lead from the living room.
"After you, Yamiko," he said with joking gallantry. "After all, I have cleaning to attend to, my lady."
"Whatever," she said, going into her room to grab some pajamas and then making her way into the shower. Kane sat on the couch and listened quietly to the sound of shower running over her and the rhythmic snap-snap of soap bottles opening and closing.
Never again did he want to go home.
"I'm glad you decided to let me come," Sir Gakusha said with a kind of appreciative humility. Fubuki held the door open and looked him over, then stepped aside to let him through. "I know this wasn't an easy decision to make."
Fubuki was silent for a long time. Then she scoffed, looking off toward her mother's room. "Fuck--what've I got to lose?"
Sir Gakusha nodded and moved toward the room of Fubuki's suffering mother.
"I'm going over to Jirou's," Fubuki announced, standing up. "Call me when it's over, Michito."
Michito walked out of the dining room, where she had been cleaning, and looked at Fubuki. Fubuki's eyes widened as her nanny hugged her tightly. "Whatever happens," she said, "I promise I will be there."
Fubuki's eyes softened, but she tried to pretend she didn't care. She scoffed. "Don't say lame-ass things," she said dismissively. "I'm heading out."
"So you just left him there to talk to her?" Jirou asked dubiously.
"Fuck yeah," Fubuki said. They sat down in a broad, garden-covered park with stone statues of the Sailor Guardians. "I don't want to be involved with that bullshit. It sounds like a pain in the ass," she said. Jirou said nothing but looked at her and sighed.
"Here it comes," Fubuki said dryly.
"Here comes what?" Jirou asked, annoyed.
"You're going to give me a stupid lecture about how I shouldn't have transformed in front of my mother," Fubuki said. "About how I'm fucking crazy."
Jirou smiled. "Nah," he said. "The way it's looking, maybe you were right all along. It looks like Daisuke, crazily enough, is going to help you. And anyway..." he sighed. "If there really was a youma, maybe you didn't have much of a choice. It's a hell of a lot better, you acting like a psycho and transforming in front of everyone, than getting hurt by that monster."
Fubuki scoffed. "For a minute there, it sounded like you cared about me."
"Would it be such a bad thing if I did?" he asked dryly.
Fubuki smiled. "Fuck," she said. "I guess not." She put her arm roughly around him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Maybe if I have to move into the church, they'll let you come with me."
"They'd probably make us get married," Jirou said. "And I can't imagine you in one of those ridiculous dresses."
"I'm a goddess now," she said, grinning wickedly. "They'll have to let me have my way."
"As I mentioned on the phone, your mother has come to an understanding with me," Sir Gakusha told Fubuki, who stood uncertainly outside her own doorway. Fubuki glanced at her mother's solemn, tear-stained face and back at Gakusha.
"What kind of understanding?" Fubuki said cautiously, looking toward Gakusha.
"I was afraid of your power," her mother admitted sadly. "Afraid of you. But...Gakusha has told me how you saved the church. That you powers are not given to you by Chaos. That you are, after all, one of the chosen warriors. From now on..." she looked awkwardly to the side. "I should give you the kind of respect that that kind of position deserves."
"While still being her mother," Gakusha added kindly. "I'll be talking with you mother a lot over the next few weeks to return your life to some normalcy," he explained. "I hope you'll come to these sessions, Fubuki, so your mother will know you're the same person, but come to understand and respect your feelings."
"Whatever," Fubuki said.
"Please do this for me, Fubuki," Gakusha said, bowing his head. "It would mean everything to me if you could help your mother, the congregation, and yourself by doing this."
"Fine," she said. "Just don't waste too much of my time."
"Thank you, Fubuki," he said, bowing deeply. "You may be a soldier of violence, but you use your abilities as a warrior to further righteousness."
Fubuki rolled her eyes. "I'm going up to my room," she said. "Jirou's going to hang out tomorrow," she added. She looked toward her mother, as though daring her mother to object. Her mother glanced toward Gakusha, who nodded approvingly.
"Okay," she said hesitantly. "I'll ask Michito to prepare dinner. I'll...probably be sorting things out at work then."
"Good," Fubuki said. "Er, fine."
"I'll be seeing you tomorrow, then," Gakusha said, looking toward Fubuki's mother.
"Tomorrow, then," she repeated, her voice dimming down to something faint and void of energy.
Kane grunted slightly and covered his eyes as brilliant light shone through his eyelids, tainting the darkness bright red. "What is that?" he mumbled, half asleep.
"The sun," Sayoko said dryly, raising an eyebrow. Kane looked up; that's right, he had spent the night at Yamiko's. The guest room had light blue walls with dark, deep blue furnishings and a bamboo floor.
"What time is it?" he asked absently. Sayoko glanced away, making a half-hearted attempt at modesty; he wasn't wearing a shirt.
"Time to get up and go to school for the teen-aged set," she said.
"Right," he said, turning to a clock that read six o'clock. "Has Yamiko left yet?"
"No," Sayoko replied. "She's in the kitchen, making us all breakfast. So you should probably get some clothes on, unless you're hoping to make a pretty strong impression on my sister."
Kane blushed, looking down at his bare torso. "I'm wearing boxers," he said defensively.
"Really?" Sayoko said, grinning fiendishly. "Then you must have worn two pairs yesterday, because I see you have some on the floor over there," she said, pointing to a pair of black boxers lying on the carpeted floor. "Well, have fun putting on your second pair of boxers. I'll see you at the breakfast table."
Kane dressed himself neatly and thoughtfully, rolling up the cuffs on his shirt and sticking the skinny tie he had worn to Yamiko's yesterday in the pocket of his blazer, which he slung over his arm. It was bad enough to wear the same clothes two days in a row, but to wear them in exactly the same fashion was more than Kane could bear. He slipped into the bathroom and gargled with some mouth wash he found there; then he walked down the hall and into the dining room, where a fragrantly scented plate of scrambled eggs, bacon and cherry tomatoes were laid out. Yamiko was eating quietly, the late spring sun shining brightly on her glossy black hair.
"The sunrise," he said, looking toward her and then out the window. "You forget how beautiful it is." Yamiko shared his glance outside.
"Yeah," she agreed. "When you see it everyday, you sort of get numb to the view. But you're right. It is beautiful."
Kane glanced at Yamiko, as though he had thought he weren't talking out loud and was surprised to find that Yamiko could hear him. "I'll walk you to school," he said. "If you don't mind," he added hastily.
"No," Yamiko said. "I could use the company."
"I have been remiss in my duties as a gentleman," Kane said, smiling. "I never thanked you for letting me stay the night."
Yamiko shrugged. "It's not a big deal," she said. "It's not like my apartment doesn't fit you."
Kane laughed; Yamiko's luxurious apartment was probably several times larger than it needed to be for her and her sister. "Even so," he said. "It was very kind of you to let a boy you don't even know stay at your house overnight."
"Listen to you," Yamiko said, her usually placid mouth turning up at one edge. "You sound like some sort of Victorian gentleman caller. Next you'll be inviting me for tea and crumpets."
Kane bowed in a foppish, European fashion, twirling his right hand before holding it out. "My lady," he said, repressing a snicker, "will you do me the honor of joining me for lunch this afternoon?"
"Oh please," Yamiko said, exasperated. Kane was making a spectacle of both of them, and she could feel her cheeks flushing bright red as passerby glanced toward them.
Kane laughed and stood up. He frowned as he watched Yamiko glancing around self-consciously, her thin, pale face worked into a frown. "I'm sorry," he said. "I've made you uncomfortable again, haven't I?"
Yamiko smiled. "A little, maybe, but I think it was sweet of you." She looked at him thoughtfully; his pale, angular face almost blended into his brightly shining platinum hair. "You've gotten much better about that."
"Well," he said, "I have no desire to displease you."
Yamiko laughed. "You'd think it was hopeless romantic day, from the way you've been acting," she said jokingly. "First the comment about the sunrise this morning, and now all this. Did you stay up late reading Jane Austen novels or something?"
Kane blushed, suddenly self-conscious. "Have I really been acting so strange?"
"Yes," she said.
"Does that mean you're not coming to lunch with me?" he asked, his face disappointed.
Yamiko sighed. "I suppose I could go to lunch with you," she said.
"Thank you," Kane said, smiling. "Now, if you--"
Kane inhaled sharply as something hit him squarely from behind, ramming him in the back and sending him sprawling across the ground. Yamiko turned, aghast, as a tall, slender man stood in front of Kane; he wore a black mask, covered in sparkling stones and hanging charms, and his doublet-style shirt and tailored pants were similarly dark and sparkling. He picked up Kane by the collar and threw him into a nearby wall; the blonde-haired boy slid down the wall and groaned as his dark velvet trenchcoat bunched around him. "Yamiko...." he mumbled, slumping over.
"Kane!" Yamiko cried, running toward him. He looked at her vaguely. Yamiko turned toward the strange man, her face contorted in anger. "Why?" she said angrily. "What do you want with Kane?"
"It's quite simple," the man replied, "I--"
His sentence was broken off abruptly; he jerked forward, clutching his head in pain. Yamiko looked as Sailor Juno stood over him. "There's plenty more where that came from, asshole," she spat, kicking him forward into the pavement. She turned toward Yamiko. "A word to the wise. Never, ever ask a villain what their motives are. They relish the excuse for you to hear their melodramatic tirades."
Yamiko just flashed a dirty look at Juno and raised her hand high in the air. "Phoebe prism power, make up!" she cried. Inky darkness surrounded her, forming the fuku of Sailor Phoebe. "Dark Garrote!"
A dark, viscous hand reached out and grabbed the youma; it coughed and reached its free arm through the dark, fat fingers, but could not move. Still, when the darkness dissipated and the attack ended, the sparkling youma was still on its feet and ready, if disoriented.
"No way..." Phoebe murmured. "That attack killed the last youma I used it on!"
"Your attack only has as much power as you have faith in yourself," Juno replied. "Something has happened between then and now to make it less powerful."
"No," Phoebe said with certainty. "I want nothing more than to save Kane now...I..." Phoebe's pale face was flushed. "I'm through doubting and second-guessing. I'm still too weak to go through life with certainty, but I think if he is--" Yamiko stopped awkwardly, blushing. "I think I can find a way to be sure of myself."
"Well, at this rate, we aren't doing too well--I don't have an attack, and yours isn't working. So we better hope back-up gets here soon."
Sailor Phoebe pulled out her watch and hastily typed the first name she could think of into the keyboard. Charon....great. Tokimo. Well, she wasn't in a position to be picky.
"Charon, I need you outside the school doors ASAP!" she cried. Tokimo looked surprised but nodded.
The jeweled man turned toward Juno and pulled a long, thin spear from nowhere. He stepped forward rapidly, aiming the spear at Juno's heart. "Dammit," she spat, grabbing the spear and holding it back as it pushed toward her, inches from her heart. Sweat began to bead on her forehead. "Do something, dammit!"
"Er...." Sailor Phoebe took a deep breath, tried to focus. "Shadow dragon!" she cried, and a dark dragon swirled from her fingertips and barreled into the spear, sending it flying out of the youma's hands and into the street beyond.
Sailor Juno ran toward the youma and sent her fist toward his face; the youma dodged it casually, chuckling. "What, do you think a little karate will do the trick?" He grabbed Juno's bow and threw her against the wall, next to Kane. "We aren't having a practice match, little girl."
"Dammit!" she hissed. "Curse you...!" She looked around, desperate. "Where are the others?"
"Now, to finish off this sorry excuse for a human being," the youma said with a sigh, turning toward Kane.
"Dark Garrote!" Yamiko cried, her voice cold and deadly. This time, she knew better than to bother trying to crush this man in one blow; obviously, that was not going to work. Instead, she let the inky darkness coalesce around the creature's neck and face, blinding him and threatening him with suffocation.
"I suggest you stop that," the youma said calmly, "you would not want to anger me."
"What reason do I have to believe something like you even feels anger?" she said. "Tell me, before I decide to kill you for hurting him. Who do you work for, and why the hell are you targeting Kane?"
"I see absolutely no reason to tell you," the creature said.
"Of course not. I'm blinding you. But you can sure as hell feel a reason," she said, squeezing her fist. The youma began to choke.
"Gurrggck," the youma coughed. "Eh-Eros," he spat at last. "It makes no difference if you know. I work for Eros."
"And what does Eros want?" she asked.
"He wants you to suffer," the youma replied. "He wants you to suffer, Yamiko, just like we suffered--just for him."
"What?" Phoebe said, confused and shocked that the youma knew her name.
"Love is suffering," he said. "And you will suffer, for the sake of Nemesis. When you see your loved one in pain, it brings us power. Great power."
"You..." Phoebe hissed, looking at the youma and squeezing her hand tightly. The youma began to choke, but his choking was mixed with a high, dry laugh.
"Feral charge!" Juno cried, her face contorted in anger. She reached out her arms, and conical, sharply pointed blades of bronze spun around each other and tore into the Youma's stomach. He coughed as blood oozed out of his abdomen.
"I thought you said you didn't have an attack!" Phoebe said, turning toward Juno.
"I didn't," she said, frowning. "But I got sick of listening to this prick. So I do now."
"I thought I should let you know that I'm going to be working at the school again," Hotaru said, approaching Erik's desk in the teacher's office.
"Don't tell me you're out of your other job?" he said, smiling wryly.
Hotaru smiled patiently. "Usako wanted to be put in charge of Nemesis. My supervision was the compromise made between her and her father."
"Does Seisui know yet?" Erik asked, looking toward her.
"No," Hotaru replied.
"I'm sure she'll care more than I will," he replied. "I'm glad of the extra help, but your being here could be a bad reminder of what's happened. And with things as they are for her right now, I worry about anything else that could bring pain to her."
"Has something else happened since I last had news of her?" Hotaru asked, concerned.
"Ah," Erik replied. "I guess Usako hasn't told you. Last time there was a battle, Seisui couldn't transform."
"But why?"
Erik sighed. "Why do these things usually happen? She lost confidence in herself--lost her reasons to fight."
"Maybe there's something I can do to help...."
Erik raised an eyebrow and looked at Hotaru's slight figure. "Not now, Hotaru--not yet. For all that you two share in common, Seisui doesn't like or trust you. You need to prove to her that you don't stand for everything she hates--and that's going to take a very long time, if it ever happens at all." Erik opened his mouth as if to add something, but he closed his mouth abruptly and looked toward the door, his face troubled.
"Is something amiss?" Hotaru asked, looking toward him with concern.
"I have to go," he said. "Someone needs help."
"Then I must go as well," she said. "Come on." They slid the door of the teacher's lounge open and made their way down the twisting hallways of Goban High. Erik could see Seisui's amber-colored hair waving slightly as she ran down the hallway and toward the front door.
"Seisui," Erik called out. Seisui glanced behind herself but did not slow down; Erik ran toward her and kept pace beside her.
"It's Phoebe," Seisui said. "She and Kane have been attacked."
"Targeting the Moon Senshi again..." Hotaru murmured.
"You'd better watch out," Seisui said, "It may be your princess who is targeted next. Perhaps the only reason the Sailor Senshi haven't been targets is because they sequester themselves in their Crystal Palace."
"Perhaps," Hotaru replied. Seisui said nothing as she made her way toward the front gate.
When she got there, Hotaru worried what could happen if she were not able to transform.
The youma groaned as he looked down at the bronze spears in his stomach. He pulled them out, slowly, blood pooling on the sidewalk like water out of an overfilled bathtub. He gasped for breath.
"Are you two all right?" Hotaru asked as she came through the school gate. Seisui was right behind her; the Crimson Eagle stood above Kane on the wall, his dark mask distant and foreboding. Phoebe and Juno nodded.
"You've come just in time for the end of the show," she said. "I've taken it out already. It's only a matter of time, now."
"Fool..." the masked man said. His gaping wound had healed over; nothing of it remained but a ripped, bloody shirt.
"Spoke too soon," Juno said ruefully. Phoebe looked shocked; her face was white with fear. She could not believe Juno's cavalier attitude in the face of this monster. The youma glanced casually toward his new visitors.
Hotaru wasted no time. "Saturn crystal power, make up!" a circle of dark, purple energy materialized below her; the energy soared upward, materializing into her senshi uniform. The youma ran toward Kane as she transformed; the Crimson Eagle threw an iron ring into the youma's arm as it made its way to the boy. It frowned petulantly and pulled the ring out, throwing it to the ground; the wound healed instantly.
Phoebe glanced at Kane. He suddenly looked afraid; she had never seen him look afraid before. When the youma had attacked him before, his only concern seemed to be for Yamiko. But there was something in his eyes this time...like someone who has realized something horrible too late. "Back off," he said.
"Why should I?" the youma said. "Coeus has given me all the power I need to kill you. And after all--"
"Don't you dare!" he screamed at the youma. "Don't you dare!"
"Silence glaive surprise!" Saturn shouted. A murky, purple mist formed around the youma. It suddenly looked confused and turned around, as if looking for it's target.
"Titan prism power, make up!" Sesiui cried, reaching above her. She grinned triumphantly as the familiar swirl of black water formed around her, transforming her into Sailor Titan. The youma was still lost in the confusion of the fog. "Black Stream--" black water began to spin out of Sailor Titan's arms as she pointed them toward the youma. But she was not even able to finish the attack before the black water came swirling back toward her and her fuku dissolved, leaving behind her plain school uniform. "No..." she murmured. The fog cleared and the Youma turned back toward Kane.
"Say goodbye to your beau," the youma said, walking toward him. "His death will bring you suffering...and me, freedom at last."
"What have you been told to think so twistedly?" Kane asked the youma, who grinned with a satisfied smile. He stood up, his back straight; Phoebe was surprised how graceful he was after having been forcefully thrown into a wall.
"What I always needed to hear," he said. "That true love, unlike you, is not selfish, E-"
Kane punched the youma squarely in the gut. It fell backward and crashed into the ground. Kane turned toward Saturn. "The glaive--quickly!"
Sailor Saturn chose not to question Kane's command. She held the glaive horizontally above her head, the blade pointing forward, and drove it into the Youma's heart. The strange, masked man dissolved immediately and the glaive clattered to the ground, leaving a picture of a youthful, boyish-looking teenager with jet-black hair.
Saturn picked up her glaive; Kane picked up the portrait and frowned. "What is it?" Saturn asked.
"I'm not sure," Kane replied, handing her the portrait. "I think it's him."
Yamiko ran to Kane as her uniform dissolved around her. She hugged him tightly; Kane smiled beatifically, leaning his head against her shoulder. "I'm so relieved you're all right," she said.
"Me too," he said with a chuckle. "That creature seemed much more powerful than the other ones."
"It was strange, wasn't it," she said, "how that punch you gave it just seemed to make it give up. Juno impaled the monster better that Saturn, even, and it just kept on going."
"It must have been since she sent her glaive through the heart," Kane said. "Juno only hit him in the stomach."
"Yeah, but..." Yamiko looked thoughtful. "Well, nevermind. I suppose it doesn't--"
"I'm here!" Sailor Charon shouted, running out of the school gate, Naginata in hand. Kouken pit-patted alongside her, visibly distraught. "Did I miss anything?"
"Yeah," Yamiko said, "you missed everything. It's over." she turned toward Kane. "Are you going to be okay?"
"It's nothing," he said, rubbing his back. "Just extremely painful."
"Good," Yamiko replied. "I mean, not good, but--"
Kane laughed. "I know what you mean." He looked toward where the youma had disappeared, his face dark. "Is it just me, or was that one much more powerful than the others?"
"If what I've read of the other youma is true," Saturn replied. "Those were easily taken out by a single Moon Senshi attack."
They turned as they heard the sound of rough footsteps running across the sidewalk toward school. "What happened?" Usako said, alarmed. "Why didn't you call us, Juno?"
"There was no time, or opportunity," she said. "Phoebe barely had a chance herself."
"This is why I always insist on sticking together!" Haruko said, frowning. "You know we don't have an attack when we're alone."
"I didn't want to make all of you schelp all the way here an hour early."
"If you didn't join the track team, you wouldn't have to schelp here an hour early!" Haruko said huffily.
"Anyway," Diana added, "you must know we wouldn't have minded. Your safety is far more important than our convenience!"
"What made you decide to join track all of a sudden, anyway?" Akiko asked.
Juno frowned. "I've been thinking about what happened before the meeting--what we decided, and why we decided it," Juno said. "Usako wanted to break away from having to identify herself with the planetary senshi--with being defined only by the fact that she's in a team. Well, I want to define myself too," Juno said stubbornly. "I know what you're going to say--we're Usako's guardians, it's our job to be a team. And I agree. But that doesn't mean we can't be our own people, too." she paused, glancing toward the school. Her face was tense and frustrated. "I feel a bond of kinship of with you all--with my sisters. But I want to be someone besides a member of the Quartet. Sometimes I feel like we don't even have identities at all--like we're just four faces on one senshi."
Haruko was silent for a very long time. Fuyuko's face seemed to go pale with fear; Akiko looked considerably less cowed by the exchange, but she still looked like she would rather be somewhere else. Juno stared at Haruko straight in the eyes, unafraid. This was a fight she was determined to win. "You wouldn't have made it out of this fight without Phoebe and Saturn," Haruko said at last. "You don't have an attack you can use alone. It's fine to talk of independence, but the very way we operate just goes to show that we're inseparable. We don't even have senshi attacks we can use without each other!"
"Not anymore," Juno retorted. "I have my own senshi attack now."
"Oh?"
Juno turned toward the empty street. "Feral charge!" she cried with a vengeance. Conical, pointed blades of bronze spiraled into the air; after flying down the street for several yards, they fell with a clatter, then evaporated into a shimmering vapor. Haruko looked at Juno, shocked.
"That was most impressive!" Diana said appreciatively. "Your attack will be a great asset to the team."
Huarko frowned, mulling over what she had seen. "Do as you like," she said at last, huffily. Juno watched Haruko walk past her and into the school gates. Akiko glanced at Juno, aghast, as she followed Haruko. Fuyuko watched them leave and then turned toward Juno.
"That was awesome," she said enthusiastically. "None of us have ever stood up to her. I mean...you've always kind of been the rebel, but I never though you'd actually, y'know, rebel."
Juno closed her eyes and her senshi fuku dissolved, making her Natsuko once again. "I realized something when Usako stood up to the others," Natsuko said. "We're in the same boat as her, but even worse. Lady Serenity wanted independence, to make her own choices. But at least, even when she was beholden to her parents, she had her own identity. We don't even have that. No one ever thinks of us as people. They just think of us as 'the Quartet.'"
Fuyuko looked intrigued. "I had never thought of it that way," she said. "Maybe I should try to make something of myself, too," she said.
"Maybe. Although I didn't do much of a job joining track team. The morning practice is over," she said, turning and following after Haruko. Fuyuko ran after her, almost adoringly.
Saturn's uniform dissolved; the rest of the Moon Senshi followed suit, resuming their civilian forms--except, of course, Seisui, who was already in her ordinary school uniform.
Hotaru turned toward her. She looked utterly dejected; Hotaru could only imagine the desolation that she felt. Glancing at Tokimo, Hotaru could tell that Seisui's friend had a pretty good idea of what had happened. "Seisui, I--"
"Go away," Seisui said. "If you, of all people, try comforting me, It's going to make things far worse."
"She's right, Hotaru," the Crimson Eagle interjected. He jumped down from the wall and his armor dissipated, making him Erik vonDarkmoor once more. "Like I said, you aren't the person she needs right now."
Hotaru looked a little disappointed, but didn't protest. "Come on, Usako, Hiroshi, Diana," she said to her charges. "We should get going." They nodded and followed her into the tall, vaguely sparkling school building.
Erik glanced up into the trees; he could see Ikkoku. If a hawk could be goading, she managed it.
"Seisui...!" Tokimo said, moving toward her friend. Seisui looked at the ground.
"It's okay, Seisui," Erik said. "at a time like this--"
"Don't let yourself give up, Seisui," Tokimo said. "Things have been hard on you...on all of us, but on you most of all. If you can't transform, you shouldn't lose hope." She hugged her friend tightly. Seisui sniffled as she returned the embrace.
"If I can't be happy, Tokimo," she said, "can't I at least be useful?"
"You are useful, Seisui," Tokimo replied. "You're the best friend I've ever had. That's worth a lot more to me than any powers."
Erik looked on helplessly. He wasn't any use to her after all. He glanced up at Ikkoku, who ruffled her feathers and pointed towards Seisui encouragingly with a wing. What was she hoping to accomplish? What could he say that would possibly make Seisui feel better about losing her powers? He, himself, was almost powerless next to the Sailor Senshi. Perhaps that should have made him better able to soothe her. But what had his powers accomplished? He hadn't really saved anyone.
Quite the opposite...he flinched, shuddering at the memory of blood and insanity.
No. Best to leave such things to Tokimo. He had proved himself more than useless in these situations. He turned around and left, Ikkoku looked accusingly at him as he turned around.
"What are you doing?" she said. "You still have a Sailor Senshi to help!"
"I'm not sure if you've noticed," Erik said, annoyed, "but helping Sailor Senshi is not something I seem to excel at." He glanced toward the school building, where the bell threatened to ring before too long. "At least I'm actually a good English teacher."
"Don't worry, Seisui," Tokimo said. "We'll work through this, just like we've worked through everything else."
"It was you!" Eros cried, slamming open the door of Coeus' and Mauros' room. Mauros sat on his bed, his tall, stately form hunched and bent over as he silently drew a scene of a man trapped in a nebulous glass house, looking desperately toward the sky. Coeus looked considerably more self-satisfied; he sat on a large, comfortable upholstered chair. He was interlocking tiny, mechanical parts on a tiny, mechanical dog. His face was calm and emotionless. "You infused my shine with kakon. Charis was not supposed to be half as powerful as that!"
"What I did caused your little song and dance to yield twice the kakon that it would have normally, because Yamiko felt Kane was actually in danger. Otherwise, she would have taken care of Charis easily, and that would have been that."
"You must have used far more energy than we got back! I had to suck the power out of him to even make him vulnerable to attack!"
"Well," Coeus said, "my hope was that Kane would be killed. Then, Sailor Phoebe would be upset enough to make up for the kakon I spent--easily so."
"You can't be serious," Eros said.
"Oh, I'm entirely serious," Coeus said darkly, standing up and holding his mechanical dog in front of Eros. "Nemesis told me to send the message. You have one day to disappoint Yamiko in love, Eros. If you don't deliver, I've been instructed to kill you. But don't worry--I'll make sure your plans get carried out first. I'll unmask Kane. I'll show her it's you. Then I'll kill you. So that the kakon will be great--so that you can never redeem yourself, and Yamiko will hate you forever."
"I can end it tomorrow," he said defiantly. "Easily. I would have liked longer, but now is easy enough. You make it sound as though I wouldn't want to break Yamiko's heart. As though revealing myself wasn't my plan all along."
"You're not fooling anyone, Eros," Coeus said. "Old habits die hard. You've fallen in love with the girl. And we both know that you won't end it tomorrow. You'll keep it going until I take it from you--because you're just an old fool in love with another vapid strumpet."
Eros said nothing. He stared at the bitter, blue-haired man, turned around, and left.
EPISODE FIFTEEN: ~FIN~
Kokoro
kareteru you ni asu ga kuraku naru kara
Koe ga kurushiku kasureru
hodo sakebitai
Donna toki mo kimi no ibasho sagashite
Setsunai
omoide mo mune ni motte
Sorazorashii wake no kage ni
kakureteru boku mo iru
Sadame
wo kowaseba mirai nante aru ka na
Demo maketaku nai kara
akiramenai yo donna aite demo
Sadame to iu mono ha michi wo kimeru
dakedo
Kaiki gesshoku demo kimi wo me ni suru
Kimi ha
umarekawattemo boku no Radiance dakara
Because,
as if my heart's withering, tomorrow will get darker
I want to
scream until I get painfully hoarse
Searching for where you are no
matter when it is
And holding painful memories in my chest
There
is also a me who's hiding behind empty reasons
If I
destroy predestination, will there be a future at all?
But because
I don't want to lose, I won't give up, no matter who my opponent
is
That which is called predestination decides our paths, but
Even
during a total lunar eclipse, I'll remember you
Because,
even though reborn, you are my radiance
NEXT EPISODE
Kazeko: I have avoided my fate long enough. It is time to take my place amongst the gods.
Fubuki: At last, I have my mother's fear and respect. At last, I have the freedom I deserve, the chance at something with Jirou. How could things go badly?
Erik: How easy to talk of defending all and preferencing none. How hard to be that shining beacon.
Natsuko: I have begun the start of something none too popular with Haruko. Soon, each of us will realize what I already have; we are four as one, not one as four.
Hotaru: As I see the trials and tribulations Usako must face in dealing with the Moon Senshi--the decisions that must be made--I realize the accomplishment she has truly reached. Perhaps we are equals after all, my dear friend.
Yamiko: Me and Kane are viciously attacked by an entirely new monstrosity. As Coeus enters the stage, the mysterious Kane is revealed. The trust I finally placed in another will be shattered apart.
Usako: This is it, Eros. Will you stand with righteousness--or will you abandon life, filled with hopelessness now that the senshi of desolation has abandoned you?
Eros: Her lips are like the roses fair...The sweetest smile and the gentlest hands--I love the ground whereon she stands.
Next time, on MOON SENSHI: UNMEI NO KODOMO--
"Black is the Color"
Mayumi: Everyone needs a little forgiveness.
